


Full House: the Lee Brothers Story

by svtseasons



Series: The Lee Brothers Stories [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: A little angst, A lot of smooches, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Cute, Fluff, M/M, dino whose baby are you, flirty soonyoung, gyuhoon, jihoon seokmin and chan are brothers, kpop, romcom, seoksoon, shy jihoon, the lee brothers - Freeform, wonchan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:06:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22399837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/svtseasons/pseuds/svtseasons
Summary: Lee Jihoon is the oldest of the Lee brothers and an owner of the most popular cafe in town. A shy introvert with interest only in his little brothers, best friends, and the coffee shop, he's hesitant to approach Kim Mingyu, a handsome guy who responds to the "help wanted" sign...Jeon Wonwoo is in a happy relationship with a boy he's had a crush on for years. The problem? His boyfriend is Lee Chan, the adored youngest brother of Wonwoo's best friend Jihoon...Lee Seokmin had always believed that he and Kwon Soonyoung, one of his brother Jihoon's best friends, were soulmates fated to be together. However, as time goes by, he slowly realizes that Soonyoung may never feel the same way towards Seokmin...
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Lee Chan | Dino, Kim Mingyu/Lee Jihoon | Woozi, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Seokmin | DK
Series: The Lee Brothers Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645021
Comments: 29
Kudos: 146





	1. Help Wanted

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so into the Lee Brothers AU lately, so I decided to start writing! I uploaded this at like 4am, so edits will be made along the way and I'm sure other pairings within SVT will be added, too! Please leave comments and feedback. Thank you!

"Hyung, I'm back from school!" Seokmin cheerfully yelled into the cafe. 

"Jihoon, I'm here, too!" 

Even without looking up, Jihoon could tell that the gleeful voice was coming from Soonyoung, one of his best friends. Taking a second to finish up the milk he was steaming, Jihoon looked up in a second and flashed a little smile. "Oh, you guys are back. How was your day?" he asked as he got ready to pour the foamy milk into the espresso. 

"Good!" Both boys yelled out, and then broke out into laughter. Then they launched into some dance in the middle of the cafe. Jihoon shook his head, wondering exactly what went on in those two idiot's heads. Carefully pouring out the foam into a shape of a swan, he hit the button for the order buzzed. "Enjoy," he said softly as a girl gasped in delight as she picked up her latte. 

Seokmin had already put his school stuff down and donned the apron. "Still no luck finding a part-time barista, hyung?" He asked as he washed his hands in the sink behind Jihoon. "No," the short boy shook his head, "I've almost given up." Seokmin frowned, worried for his brother. By sheer willpower, Jihoon had kept the cafe running by himself with his younger brothers and friends chipping in their time to help. But with Seokmin and Chan taking on early morning classes this semester, it was wearing down on Jihoon. 

Suddenly, the bells by the door rang. Jihoon turned his head to see a very tall, handsome young man walk in. The man was dressed in a flashy floral shirt and white jeans, with sunglasses that looked extremely expensive and flashy. Scanning the shop for a second, the man put his hands on his hips, rocking them to one side. Jihoon couldn't help but stare. Even with the sunglasses on, Jihoon could tell that the guy was very good-looking. He wondered if this guy was a model or something. 

The stranger whipped off his sunglasses, and Jihoon's jaw almost dropped. How can someone who looks like this even exist in this small college town? Such a statuesque, classically handsome face with beautiful eyes and a strong chin. His body was cut like a Roman god, too. Exactly the opposite of me, Jihoon thought as the stranger approached the counter. 

"Excuse me," the man's voice was cheery, not crazy deep or throaty as Jihoon expected. 

"Y-yes?" Jihoon stuttered, a little bit phased by the strong smell of cologne on this guy. Expensive cologne that smells really nice, Jihoon thought. 

The man smiled, folding his hands on top of the counter, and Jihoon thought this is what a heart attack must feel like. The eyes that looked so sharp and cold bent into a cute arc as the man showed a toothy smile with sharp canines that reminded Jihoon of Sandy, their old family dog that had passed away years ago. 

"I saw a sign in the front that you guys were looking for a part-time help," the handsome guy said, "Is the position still available?"

"W-well, technically yes…"

"Excellent," the man beamed again, "I would like to apply!"

"U-uh, uhmm, the thing is…" Jihoon struggled to find the right words. Had this guy walked in thinking this was a fancy cafe or something?

"Here's the paperwork!" Seokmin chirped in, holding the application form and pencil, "We're mostly looking for someone who can help out during the morning rush hours." The handsome guy took the paper, nodding. "That's fine. I'm available all day, so…"

"This isn't like a fancy job," Jihoon, finally thawing, blurted out. "I'm not sure what you were expecting, but this is a small coffee shop. We're not able to pay you much." He eyed the man's outfit again, which, even to his untrained eyes, looked utterly expensive. 

"Okay," the man replied, looking confused, "but you'll pay me minimum wage and, like, train me and stuff. Right? It says you’re looking for part-time help and no experience is needed." 

"Of course," Seokmin answered instead, jabbing Jihoon in the back. "Please excuse us, we have something we were going to look at in the break room. Feel free to sit anywhere while you fill out your application." The younger brother then practically pushed Jihoon into the side door. 

"Hyung, what are you doing?" Seokmin whispered urgently, nearly grabbing Jihoon by the collars.

"Seokmin, look at that guy! Look at what he's wearing. Do you think he'll be ok being a barista in a mom-and-pop shop? I'm surprised he's in this cafe at all."

"First of all, take some pride in your cafe, man. It might be small, but it's the best coffee shop in Pledisville. Secondly, you need someone to help you run this place in the mornings! Beggars can't be choosers! As long as his background checks are cleared, we need to hire this guy, for your health and sanity!!!"

"Uh, guys," sharp, thin eyes under blonde fuzzy tuft of hair peeped into the break room, "the guy finished filling out the forms."

"Thanks, Soonyoung hyung," said Seokmin quietly, smiling.

"Uh, also. We could kinda hear you guys from out here."

Both Lee brothers were reddened with embarrassment as they came out of the side door, back to the counter area. The handsome guy was standing there, smiling at them. 

"My name is Mingyu Kim, by the way," he said, extending his hand out to Jihoon, "And you are…?"

"Jihoon," he answered, gingerly taking the warm, large hand and shaking it, "I'm Jihoon Lee." Mingyu let out a soft laugh and smiled warmly at Jihoon as they solemnly shook hands. 

"Pleased to meet you, Jihoon," he said, flashing his canines as they broke contact, "My contact information is all written down. And I think you'll find my background check pretty squeaky-clean."


	2. Kimchi Spam Stew for Dinner

The punchy aroma of kimchi stew permeated the apartment. Leaning slightly against the stovetop, Seokmin stirred the pot with a wooden spoon before taking a little spoonful. Blowing across it carefully to cool it down, he fed it to Soonyoung, who was standing curiously next to him. 

“Does it taste okay? I mean, I’m going to add some Spam later…”

“Oh, it’s already perfect,” reassured Soonyoung, sighing contently. Seokmin’s hesitancy was replaced with a relieved smile. 

They heard the front door rustling open, and then feet shuffling. “Hyung, I’m home!” a bright voice called out cheerfully. 

“Channie, you’re home already? How was your day?”

The youngest of the Lee brothers tossed his backpack onto his bed and then came out to the kitchen to plop on a seat by the kitchen island. 

“Good. Mmm, it smells so good! What is it? Also-- hi, Soonyoungie hyung!” In reply, Soonyoung hugged Chan, rustling his hair against protests. 

“It’s kimchi stew,” Seokmin said, laughing as he stirred in the Spam bits, “go on, wash your hands. I’ll give you a taste after.”

Chan groaned but obliged to the request, knowing how upset Jihoon gets about germs coming in from outside. He fended off the clingy Soonyoung to get to the bathroom. “Jihoonie hyung, I’m home!” he yelled into the quiet dark as he passed by his oldest brother’s room. 

“Jihoon is sleeping?” Soonyoung frowned as he opened the rice cooker, “I thought he was supposed to vet through that application from that really good-looking tall guy. I’m going to stir the rice, okay?”

“Yeah, he was,” said Seokmin, lips pursed, “Hey, hyung! Food is almost ready!”

A slightly disheveled Jihoon emerged from the room. “Yeah, yeah, I heard you guys. For your information, I already did the checks for that guy.” He peered at Soonyoung, face scrunched. “And who told you that you were invited to dinner? This is a Lees-only apartment. No Kwons allowed. Arrgh!”

Jihoon screamed as Soonyoung tried to cling to him the same way that he clung to little Chan. However, the oldest of the Lee brothers was not so compliant. He squatted and shook Soonyoung off, nearly flipping him. “Hey, hey! Stop it, hyung!” Seokmin yelled, stirring the stew, “At least Soonyoung hyung helped with setting up the table.”

“Oh!” Chan exclaimed from across the apartment, “Wonwoo hyung said he’s dropping by to help me study, too! Is there enough food for him?” 

Jihoon groaned. “Excuse me, kids, but our apartment is not the soup kitchen, okay?”

“Hyung, c’mon,” Chan implored, flashing his best Otter-in-Boots eyes, “please? He’s coming by to help me even though he has an exam tomorrow.” 

“Fine.” Jihoon rolled his eyes and threw up his hands, partly because he knew that Wonwoo would come with packages of snacks and sweets from his dad’s store. 

Seokmin laughed heartily. “So… dinner as usual, then?” 

Soonyoung and Wonwoo had been Jihoon’s friends since middle school. Neither of them lived too far from the school, but the Lee residence was conveniently in the middle of Pledisville, making it the best place to stop for meals or get ready for a night out. As a result, it was not a coincidence that the family of three often had the place set for five people at dinnertime. 

They waited a few minutes for Wonwoo, who, indeed, did come with a shopping bag full of snacks and a tray of apple pie. Seokmin divided the kimchi stew into individual bowls while Soonyoung scooped out the rice for everyone. (“And a heaping second scoop for Jihoonie.”) The five men chomped down vigorously. 

“So, hyung, are you going to hire that guy?”

“What guy?” Chan lifted his head at Seokmin’s question, spilling a little bit of the kimchi stew on the table. Wonwoo took a napkin and quickly wiped it up, smiling at Chan’s silent thank-you. 

“Someone came in and applied to work at the cafe,” answered Jihoon with a begrudging tone that made Chan scrunch his eyebrows. 

“Not just someone,” Soonyoung piped in, taking a piece of kimchi from Seokmin’s bowl, despite the younger boy’s protests, “You should’ve seen him, Chan. This guy looked like a model. Did you see those Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses?” He turned to the now-quiet Seokmin, making explosion sounds and hand motions, turning back to his bowl when his enthusiasm remained unreturned. 

Jihoon sighed. “That’s the problem. Yeah, his background checks out and all, but what’s a guy like that doing here? He’s gonna see how hard the work is and run away.” Mournfully, he took another heaping spoonful of rice and shoved it into his mouth. 

“Well,” Wonwoo started thoughtfully, “if you don’t hire him, you’ll definitely get sick from the workload. At worst, he’s still helped for a couple of days.” 

“That’s true,” Seokmin quipped, giving another piece of kimchi to the hungry-eyed Soonyoung, “and, to be honest, when you warned him about how things will be, the guy didn’t seem too phased. Give him a chance.” Soonyoung nodded eagerly in agreement and mumbled something through his food. 

“What?” 

Soonyoung gulped down his food. “And the guy is handsome. Maybe he’ll bring even more afternoon business to the cafe!” Excited, he began clapping at the prospect. 

“Not that handsome,” Seokmin grumbled under his breath. 

Jihoon sighed, scraping slowly at the bottom of his rice bowl. “Yeah, I guess I’ll give this Mingyu guy a try. But I’m not placing any hopes on him to stay longer than a few days.” 

Chan smiled fondly at his oldest brother, whose face remained stoic but tapping feet were giving away how excited he secretly was.


	3. A Helping Hand

“Oh, you’re already here.”

Jihoon was surprised to see Mingyu, dressed nicely in a long trench coat, standing outside the cafe waiting. Though the shop opened officially at 7 in the morning, Jihoon usually arrived a little past 6 to tidy up the store and start brewing fresh coffee. 

“Of course, you told me to show up at 6:30.”

“It’s-- uh,” Jihoon checked his watch, “only 6:10.” He hurriedly opened the shop door and ushered Mingyu in from the cold breeze of winter’s dawn. 

“I know,” the tall man replied, breaming, “I just didn’t want to be late for the first day.” Mingyu brought his hands up rubbing them together for warmth. 

“My god,” Jihoon exclaimed, looking at the man’s hands, “were you waiting for a long time? In this weather? Please, just come at 6:30 tomorrow. I feel so bad now.” Without thinking, he grabbed Mingyu’s hands and rubbed them vigorously, inspecting the man’s fingertips. Feeling Mingyu flinch, Jihoon quickly withdrew his hands, embarrassed. 

“Oh, sorry. I have two younger brothers who’ve come back home with frostbites from playing outside before.” 

“O-oh, no, no problem. I was just… surprised. Your hands, they’re…”

Jihoon grinned sheepishly. “Big? Yeah, I hear that a lot. Especially because I’m a short guy, people don’t expect me to have such long fingers. But they come in handy working here, sometimes.” 

Leading Mingyu into the side room, Jihoon handed over an apron for Mingyu to wear over what seemed to be an expensive white angora sweater. Quite a bold move, he thought as he rattled off some of the safety points. Contrary to his fears, Mingyu listened attentively to Jihoon, making occasional notes on his phone and asking questions. They tidied up the floor and the bar space together, talking about different things that need to be set up for the cafe to open. 

“You said you’ve never had experience pulling espresso, right?”

“Well,” Mingyu shrugged, “my parents had a machine at home, so I’ve pulled shots before. But not anything fancy that you do with it, no.”

“Okay, then we’ll go over all that as you train. You can man the register for today. Let’s look at the menu and the register so that I can teach you how to ring things up properly.”

The morning went surprisingly smoothly. Jihoon was pleasantly shocked at how quickly Mingyu adapted to the hectic rush of college students and professors getting their fuel for the day. Sure, he made a few mistakes, but nothing that Mingyu’s smile and Jihoon’s tactfulness couldn’t smoothe over. The rush of customers emptied out around 10:30, allowing both of them to sit for a second after being on their feet for many hours. 

“So, what do you think?” Jihoon asked tentatively, breaking a long silence. Mingyu shook his head and laughed. “I can’t believe you handled that by yourself. For how long?”

“Well,” Jihoon shrugged, “before the winter term started earlier in January, my brothers and my friends helped out in the mornings. But they all ended up with early morning classes this semester, so I’ve been doing this for about a couple of weeks.” Mingyu whistled, his perfectly sharp eyebrows pulling together. Jihoon giggled, and then blushed at the fact that he actually giggled. In front of practically a stranger. He glanced over at Mingyu to see if Mingyu would notice and snicker. But he only found the handsome boy looking at him fondly, his lips curving in a soft smile.

“That’s really amazing, Jihoon, you should be proud of yourself. But now you’ll have me to help you out with the work.” 

The bells at the front door chimed, and the two nearly jumped. A huffing and bright-eyed Chan walked in, glancing up and down at Mingyu, who was already heading towards the counter. 

“No, Mingyu-- here. You saw Seokmin, who was working here yesterday. This is our youngest brother, Chan. Say hi to each other.”

“Oh, man, I thought you were a customer,” Mingyu sighed in relief as he took strides over to Chan, offering his hand out for a shake, “Hi, I’m Mingyu. I started working here today.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Chan,” said the little boy, shaking Mingyu’s hand firmly, “So this is the really good-lo-- ow! What’d you do that for?” Pouting, Chan gingerly rubbed the spot on his chin where Jihoon had given him a sharp warning kick. Jihoon promptly ignored him. 

“Well, since Chan is here, I won’t make you stay for the little post-lunch rush. I mean, I’m sure you have places to be.”

“No, I don’t,” Mingyu frowned. “I was planning to stay on for the afternoon to practice and learn from you. I mean, if that’s okay with you. I mean, if you don’t want me to…”

“Oh, no, no! That’s absolutely fine with me. I- I guess Channie can…”

Both of them looked nervously at Chan, who was helping himself to some hot chocolate. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll just stay here until Wonwoo-hyung finishes his exam. We were gonna go over to his place to study and play some League today, anyways.” Jihoon internally sighed, glad that Wonwoo, who happened to be a junior in the same major as Chan, was so close to his youngest brother. He slumped back down in the chair, unaware of Chan watching his happily tapping feet, as Mingyu began sweeping the floor. 

Chan helped a bit with the first rush of the lunch crowd, and Jihoon noticed how much more smoothly the service was going with Mingyu at the register, Chan stocking the pastry case and clearing tables, and himself behind the bar. 

Wonwoo came in not too long after, looking a bit down behind his glasses. 

“Hey, Wonwoo, you’re finally here. This is Mingyu, our new barista.”

“Oh, I know you!” Wonwoo exclaimed, “You’re the crazy freshman from last year who transferred in from the biology department and then dropped out of the business major by third week of classes.” 

“Yeah, that’s me,” Mingyu winced, glancing over at Jihoon. Luckily, Jihoon was concentrating on fussing over whether the dry cappuccino was dry enough. But Chan was listening. 

“Woah, you go to Pledis College?” Chan piped up as he handed a cranberry scone over to a customer. 

Mingyu shook his head as he rang up the next order. “Not anymore. $5.26, please.”

“Ah,” Wonwoo exclaimed in realization as he took the buzzers from Chan to return them to the hub, “so that’s why no one’s seen you since that semester.” He grinned down at Chan, who mouthed “thank you” before rushing off to wipe up a spill that a flustered customer had made by the trash can. 

“Hey, you two idiots,” Jihoon yelled over the steaming wand, “If you’re going to keep blabbering on and bothering Mingyu, you might as well leave.” 

Wonwoo barked out a laughter. “Oh, I see the way it is, Jihoon. Last week, you didn’t even let us take a break during lunch. But today, with Mr. Mingyu here, tall, dar-- hey, hey! You almost spilled that on me!” Jihoon ignored Wonwoo, continuing to shove the two cups up at him, so close that the steam from the cups were fogging up Wonwoo’s glasses. 

“Keep working,” Jihoon muttered through gritted teeth, “or I will ban you from visiting our apartment.” 

Once the lunch rush-- which was oddly more hectic than usual-- died down, Jihoon urged Chan and Wonwoo to leave and get their school work done. Fielding the occasional college students rolling in to write papers and soccer moms grabbing a cup before rushing off to after school activities, Jihoon began teaching Mingyu how to make some of the more simple drinks. He was pleased to find that Mingyu was quite a quick learner, though clumsy at times. Proudly, he swept up the broken glass that Mingyu had accidentally dropped, watching the tall man stare intensely at how the foamed milk made ripples at flicks of his wrist. 

“Wow, it’s already time to close up shop,” Jihoon exclaimed as he noticed the dark sky outside. “Let’s hurry up and clean. Do you live far from here, Mingyu?”

“No,” Mingyu shook his head, “I live pretty much on the border of Pledisville and New East.” Jihoon nodded in appreciation. “That’s pretty close to where Soonyoung lives. Oh, good, so you’ll make it in time for dinner probably, then.”

“W-well, actually,” stammered Mingyu, “I was hoping you’d be down to grab dinner together. There’s a new sushi place not too far from here.”

“Oh,” Jihoon stopped in his track, the dish rag still in his hand, completely flustered. “Oh, of course. Sure, sure. Let me-- let me just text my brother to let him know I’ll eat here. Yeah, sushi. Sounds nice.” He threw the dish rag on the counter as he fumbled around for his phone, trying to hide his nervous shaking hands from Mingyu.

God, why was he so lame?


	4. Pepperoni and Kimchi Pizza

“That was.. Jihoon-hyung,” Seokmin whispered slowly, in utter awe, “saying he was going out to dinner with that Mingyu guy from yesterday.” 

For as long as Seokmin remembered, Jihoon almost never ate out unless it was a special occasion. And most certainly not with a stranger he had known for about a day. 

Soonyoung shrugged. “Good for him. Too bad he’s missing out on this awesome pizza, though.” Seokmin wrinkled his nose at this comment. “Uh, I don’t know if I would call this an awesome pizza. I think it was, until you decided to put kimchi as a topping on this half.”

“Whatever, hater.”

“Hyung, when you get hypertension from all the sodium you’re consuming today, I’ll help you open the pill bottle. Because I know child safety locks get you like that.”

Soonyoung burst out in laughter at Seokmin’s earnest joke, and Seokmin felt pride swelling in his chest. He loved making Soonyoung laugh. Granted, it wasn’t a difficult task getting this bubbly boy to laugh. But still, Seokmin prided himself on the fact that he’s the one who makes Soonyoung laugh the most. 

Probably. 

“Pass me the Coke Zero, please.”

“Uh, no,” Seokmin feigned disgust, “Your fingers have pizza grease all over them. Wipe those first.” Soonyoung pouted, but promptly wiped his fingers on a napkin quickly before leaning over Seokmin to grab the soda. Seokmin coughed at the sudden intrusion of Soonyoung’s body on top of him. It was something he never really got used to, even as they hung out as friends for years. But Soonyoung seemed not to notice, gulping away happily. 

A buzz, then a cute voice chirped out. “Ka-talk!”

“Babe,” Soonyoung glanced over at Seokmin, “can you check my KaTalk message for me?”

Another thing Seokmin never got used to-- all these pet names Soonyoung liked to use fairly indiscriminately. Still, Seokmin’s heart couldn’t help but beat a little bit faster at Soonyoung’s displays of affection. He reached over to grab Soonyoung’s phone and opened it with the passcode. 

“It’s from… Yuzu? Isn’t that the chick from my year?”

“Oh, yeah. What’d she say?”

Seokmin scrolled through the conversation, frowning. “She didn’t send a message, just a bunch of pictures of you guys.” Quickly browsing, Seokmin’s eyebrows got closer and closer as he spied messages that looked particularly flirty and filled with emojis. 

“Ah, from the Winter Festival last week.”

“Winter Festival?” Seokmin wondered out loud, “So that’s where you were last Saturday.” 

That was the afternoon when Seokmin, Chan, and Wonwoo, afraid of how low Jihoon’s dark circles were extending down his cheek, forced the oldest Lee brother to stay home and sleep while they took turns manning the cafe. Soonyoung shrugged, taking another slice of the kimchi pizza. 

Seokmin took a bite of the pepperoni pizza on his hand and chewed slowly before blurting out his question. “So, are you dating her?”

“No,” scoffed Soonyoung, “Hell no. Why would you think that?” Seokmin bit his lower lip, not knowing whether to sigh in relief or shake Soonyoung into his senses. “Dunno,” the younger boy shrugged, trying to play it off cool, “looks pretty flirty to me. As flirty as KakaoTalk messages go, anyways.” Soonyoung, now turning to Seokmin, tilted his chin down and grinned slyly. 

“As flirty as… SeokSoonTalk?”

Seokmin burst out laughing at the ridiculous face that Soonyoung was making. “C’mon, hyung, what does that event have to do with-”

“Aigoo, grandfather. You’re too old to do SeokSoonTalk with me now?” Soonyoung’s eyes flashed as he mimicked an old grandma holding a cane. 

“Aigoo, grandmother,” Seokmin relented with his best elderly voice, “You know that’s not what I meant.” The two boys broke out in a laughing fit, Soonyoung nearly spilling the Coke Zero and prompting Seokmin to laugh even harder. 

“C’mon, Seokku,” Soonyoung whispered, “for old time’s sake. SeokSoon-”

“Talk!”

“SoonSeok-”

“Talk!”

“Everybody Talk! Baby, tok, tok, tok, please knock on my door, talk!”

Soonyoung fell into another giggling fit, one Seokmin couldn’t stop but grin at. “Ah,” Soonyoung finally spoke, wiping the tears out of his eyes, “thanks for obliging your hyung.” Seokmin scoffed, grinning again. “Hyung? Hey, Kwon Soonyoung.”

“Excuse me? Did you just call your hyung “Kwon Soonyoung”? Look at this jerk!” 

“Hey, hey! I’m bigger than you now.” Seokmin puffed up his chest and grunted, pounding his chest. He had been working out very recently.

Perfectly at picking up these cues, Soonyoung put both his hands against Seokmin’s pecs. “Oppa!”

Seokmin stopped dead in his tracks, heart stopping. 

“What did you say?”

“Mmm, what, oppa?” Soonyoung said in a cutesy voice, cupping his own cheeks and peering up at Seokmin. 

Oh.

Oh, no. 

“Gosh, look at the time!” Seokmin shouted as he got up quickly, his blood rushing thankfully to his face and not the other part of his body that it was going towards, “Hyung, I totally forgot I have to finish up a paper.”

“I thought your paper was due on Monday,” Soonyoung frowned, getting up from the couch. 

“It… it was! But Professor Kubler gave us an extension.”

“He did?” asked Soonyoung, his face scrunched up in disbelief, “That nasty geezer?”

“Mm, yeah,” Seokmin laughed nervously, starting to clear away his plate. He silently sighed in relief as Soonyoung got up grudgingly to help clear the mess. 

Seokmin’s secret was still safe. 

-

“Channie… my baby-- oof!” elbowed suddenly, Wonwoo rolled off the mattress onto the ground. 

“Oh, sorry, hyung,” Chan exclaimed in genuine surprise, “I’m almost done though.” 

Wonwoo pouted, pretending to also be working on his group project while Chan stared intensely at the computer screen. He was elated when Jihoon practically begged them to leave the cafe early. But Chan had been working diligently on his paper for the last four hours, to Wonwoo’s dismay. It had been hard to sneak away with Chan and hang out with him, alone, for the last couple of weeks. Today was the prime chance he didn’t expect, thanks to that crazy guy, Mingyu, who was distracting Jihoon from keeping a tight leash on his youngest brother. 

But, alas, Chan seemed more interested in the computer screen than his boyfriend. 

Half-spiteful and half-playful, Wonwoo squeezed back onto the mattress, leaning against Chan. He gently tapped on the smaller boy’s butt and then peered through his glasses to see Chan’s reaction. No response. Grinning widely, Wonwoo began to pat Chan’s butt a little bit harder and harder, enjoying the bouncy sensation. 

Suddenly, Wonwoo was flipped onto his back, his eyes taking in a wide view of the ceiling and Chan’s slightly annoyed face. 

“Hyung.”

Wonwoo gulped. He didn’t mean to cross over Chan’s line like that. He shivered as he remembered the last time his jokes had ticked Chan off. Wonwoo wasn’t even allowed to talk to Chan for a whole week. 

“Stop it.”

“Right, sorry,” Wonwoo nodded nervously at Chan’s stern face. 

Chan broke out in a smile, looked quickly at the door to see if the coast was clear, and planted a peck on Wonwoo’s lips before dismounting the older boy. “I’ll be done soon, I promise. Then we can cuddle for the rest of the night. Maybe even more, if you play your cards right.” 

Wonwoo blushed as he watched Chan go back on his belly, typing away with a smile hanging on the corner of his lips. 

-

“Thanks so much for the meal,” Jihoon said shyly as they exited the restaurant. 

“No problem. Damn, you were the right person to bring to this all-you-can-eat place. I would’ve never expected you to match my speed.” 

Jihoon didn’t know if he should laugh or cringe at that statement, so he offered a small smile instead. 

“C’mon, I’ll give you a ride.” Mingyu tilted his chin, taking out his car key from the jacket. Jihoon shook his head. “No thanks. I actually live a block and a half away from here. That’s why I walk to the cafe in the morning.” 

“Wow, that is quite close,” Mingyu nodded, “Then let me walk you home.”

Jihoon’s brain had been on overdrive trying not to say anything dumb during the dinner. Now, it felt like a 12-ton truck hit his brain on the highway. Flabbergasted, Jihoon just kinda stood there with his jaw open while Mingyu came up next to him and hooked arms. “Which way?”

“U-uhm, it’s to the right, here…”

In the blistering cold of the winter night, walking next to Mingyu was like having a personal wall and a radiator next to you. At least, that’s the way Jihoon felt as they walked down the block. He glanced up occasionally at Mingyu, who just smiled back at him. Jihoon felt genuinely confused. Granted, he hadn’t made many friends over the years, and certainly no new ones in the last few years. But the way that Mingyu was acting-- being all nice to him, trying to make small talk-- felt especially strange and confusing. 

What was this?

“We turn left here,” Jihoon finally muttered, leading Mingyu across the street as he turned his head quickly, twice, making sure that no cars were heading down the road. The street was already pretty dark, but Jihoon saw a figure in front of the apartment entrance. Squinting, he could tell that it was actually two people, making out under the streetlight. Jihoon rolled his eyes, groaning in exasperation. 

“Ugh, a couple? Right in front of my door?”

“Young love,” Mingyu whispered contemplatively, somehow making Jihoon feel a little bit better about seeing this disgusting public display of affection in front of his home. 

Jihoon sighed, wondering how he would get these people to move out of the way so he could get inside. Getting closer, Jihoon squinted his eyes again at the familiarity of one of the figures. That pink hoodie, the slouchy black beanie, the red plaid Chucks that were limited edition, presented as a seventeenth birthday present. 

“Channie?”

The two figures turned at Jihoon’s cry. Jihoon saw his youngest brother, wide-eyed in shock. Then, his eyes focused on another familiar face next to Chan’s.

“Wonwoo?!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry to the person who has been waiting for the WonChan moment for four chapters... Here they are, finally!
> 
> I will most likely try to update with a new chapter on days ending with 0's and 5's from now on.


	5. Get Out

“Absolutely not.”

Soonyoung sighed. He should have left when Seokmin told him to go. He stubbornly stuck around, using the coldness of the winter as an excuse. And now he was being punished for it, stuck between two of his best friends. 

“This-this shouldn’t even be allowed! My best friend-- my youngest brother--”

“There’s no law against it,” Seokmin muttered quietly. Jihoon glared at him with ferocity that could kill. Wishing to spare Seokmin of the wrath, Soonyoung pulled him into the kitchen, loudly clanging the glasses as he poured some water for everyone. 

Wonwoo sighed. This was not the way he had planned for Jihoon to find out. Ever since their dad passed away, Jihoon had been the picture of a doting hen clucking over her little chicks. Jihoon was quick to give up his own dreams and open the cafe instead, financially supporting his little brothers through schooling. And as Jihoon’s best friend, Wonwoo saw all of the ordeal that the oldest Lee had gone through and totally understood why he was so protective of Chan. 

“Hyung, it doesn’t matter if you allow it or not. Wonwoo hyung and I have been dating a while now, regardless--”

“A while? A while??? And I found out about this to--”

“Woah, woah,” Wonwoo quickly blocked Jihoon’s path to Chan, “Not a while, not a while! Just officially since September.”

“September,” Jihoon repeated, incredulous, “That was a whole five months ago. Five months, Wonwoo. Five months, you’ve poached my baby brother, you good-for-nothing--”

“Hey!” Soonyoung pulled back Jihoon, who was nearly at Wonwoo’s throat, “Relax, take a sip of water. Breathe in, breathe out.” Jihoon took the cup begrudgingly. 

“And you two. Did you know about this?” he asked, glaring back and forth between Seokmin and Soonyoung. 

“Officially?” Seokmin shrugged, “No. Unofficially? Maybe I did.”

Jihoon, still rumbling low with anger, put down his cup. “Unofficially?” he questioned. 

“Oh, come on,” Seokmin tried to laugh it off, “you could kinda tell, Chan was hanging out with Wonwoo-hyung way more than any sunbae-hoobae or friend-of-your-oldest-brother-youngest-brother-of-your-friend relationship usually goes. Right, Soonyoungie-hyung?”

“I dunno,” Soonyoung shrugged, “you and I hang out all the time. And we’re not dating.” 

Seokmin groaned internally, silently wishing that Soonyoung wasn’t being so dull. 

“Well, well,” Jihoon reasoned quietly, “you’re the most tactless, clueless one here. And you’re telling me I missed something that you-- Seokmin-- your brain has been able to pick up?”

“W-well..” gulped Seokmin nervously, “I... also may have looked in Chan’s journals while cleaning his room.”

Chan looked up at him with a face of pure disgust. “You WHAT?” 

Soonyoung whistled. “Mmm, okay, oh, wow, look at the time--”

“And no way in hell,” Jihoon continued with his observations, “did Seokmin find out about this juicy gossip and NOT tell Kwon Soonyoung the first chance he could.”

“Ah, come on,” Soonyoung whined, throwing up his hands, “Look at them, Jihoon, they’re adorable together. I couldn’t let you tear them apart like that! That would be a crime against love.”

Jihoon was literally shaking as Soonyoung and Seokmin apologized profusely to Chan and hugged him against the youngest boy’s will. 

“I am sick. Just. Sickened.”

Chan stood up, wriggling off Seokmin and Soonyoung. “Jihoonie-hyung. I know what you’re thinking, and I know what you’re afraid of. But trust me. I liked Wonwoo-hyung first and asked him out. He’s the one who held us off until I started college.”

“Channie,” Wonwoo whispered softly, tugging Chan’s leg gently, “Actually, that’s not true. I liked Chan for a very long time. From afar, in secret, of course. But Jihoon, you’re not wrong when you say I haven’t always had the purest of intentions with your youngest brother.”

“Really?” Chan asked, eyes wide and softened, “Since when?”

“Around senior year of high school for me,” Wonwoo confessed, looking at the ground, “but you were too young, and I didn’t want to pressure you or confuse you, so…” Seokmin and Soonyoung cooed in the background as Chan sat back down next to Wonwoo, holding and squeezing the older boy’s hand. 

Wonwoo sighed. “Can you forgive me? All those times I’ve tutored you or helped you out with your projects, I can’t say that those were separate from my hopes.”

“All those years, you’ve never pushed me or let me know. And when I asked you last spring, you said we should hold out in case my feelings change after starting school. Of course I forgive you.”

“Well,” Jihoon interrupted the fond moment, “I don’t.”

Chan huffed and pushed back his hair. “Well, you know what, Jihoon hyung?” he exclaimed, “If you can’t handle this like a mature adult, Wonwoo-hyung and I have no reason to stay here. C’mon, hyung. Get up. I’m going to sleep over at Wonwoo-hyung’s house today.”

“What? Absolutely not!”

“Why not?” the youngest one challenged Jihoon, “It’s no different than what I’ve been doing every Saturday since school started. Sleepover at Wonwoo-hyung’s house.”

“Well, t-this is different--” Jihoon sputtered, following Chan around the house, “You guys are-- are dating! Wonwoo’s only got one bed--” 

“So what?” Chan shot back, packing up clothes into his backpack, “We’re two consenting adults in a relationship who are going to sleep in the same bed tonight.”

Jihoon fell to the ground. “Aigoo,” he cried out, “Seokmin, look at what our baby brother is saying-” 

“So cool!” Seokmin declared, giving a thumbs up as Soonyoung clapped. Now smirking, Chan pulled the shocked Wonwoo up by the arms and went to put on his shoes. 

“Good night, Jihoonie-hyung, Seokminie-hyung, Soonyoungie-hyung. See you tomorrow.”

And just like that, Chan and Wonwoo were gone with the slam of the front door. Jihoon shook his head, burying his face in his hands. He had tried so hard to raise his younger brothers right, to protect them from harm. Little did he know, that sly fox Jeon Wonwoo was singing the Siren’s song right under Jihoon’s own roof. 

“Cheer up, hyung,” Seokmin consoled Jihoon as he and Soonyoung both hugged the short boy against his will, “From what I read in Chan’s journals, they always make sure that they’re being super safe before getting it on--”

“GET OUT!”


	6. Late

A loud rapt on the front door woke Jihoon right up. 

“What on earth?”

Rubbing his eyes, sleepy Jihoon made his way to the front door, feeling the tightness of his cheeks against the early morning bloat. He opened the front door, wondering if Soonyoung had again left his phone at the Lee residence and decided to choose an ungodly hour of the morning to pick it up. 

“Good morning,” a slightly familiar raspy voice that was definitely not Soonyoung greeted Jihoon. He blinked a few times, letting the light of the morning flood his eyes. Then Jihoon nearly jumped at the realization that this morning’s visitor was Mingyu.

“Sorry for scaring you,” Mingyu grinned, “but it was 6:30 already, and you weren’t picking up. So I was worried.”

“Aw, nuts!” Jihoon exclaimed, the new jolting him like a quad of espresso shots, “I must’ve turned off my phone or something. Wait, hold on, I’ll give you the keys. Here--” Rummaging through his bomber jacket, he found the store keys and pressed them on to Mingyu’s hands. “I am so, so sorry, I’ll get ready as soon as possible. You think you can get the store ready for open?”

“Of course,” Mingyu nodded, smiling again. Goddammit, Jihoon thought. Here Mingyu was, looking all glowy and runway-ready at 6:30 in the morning. And here Jihoon was, in fuzzy pajamas and hair that sticks out in a million different directions. 

True to his promise, Jihoon dressed up as quickly as possible and ran to the cafe before 7 o’clock hit. Mingyu giggled, watching Jihoon huffing and cursing. The two of them ran the morning shift the same way as the day before. It was even busier than yesterday. Jihoon couldn’t tell if it was because of the chilly weather or, as Soonyoung ridiculously suggested, because of Mingyu’s presence. 

Maybe there is some truth to that outlandish claim, Jihoon thought, squinting as three totally first-timer girls stuck by a little bit too long at the register, giggling at what Mingyu was saying while twirling their hair. 

Even lunch went pretty smoothly with just Jihoon and Mingyu. A mishap here and there, but Mingyu was getting more and more adept at ringing up orders and serving at the same time. He even got on the bar for some of the simpler drinks, Jihoon watching proudly from the register. 

In the afternoon, Seokmin and Soonyoung dropped by, allowing Jihoon to show Mingyu how some of the latte art designs were made. They practiced using milk, chocolate syrup and a drop of soap to mimic the foaminess of the steamed milk. Jihoon found it thoroughly enjoyable to be able to teach Mingyu freely while Seokmin took care of the cafe. Mingyu was not only picking these things up quickly, but he had a real artistic understanding of what makes a beautiful latte art. 

“Hyung,” Seokmin whispered to Jihoon as they both watched Mingyu pull an actual espresso to make a latte art for Soonyoung, “Did you hear back from Chan?”

“No,” Jihoon whispered back. “You know how stubborn he gets.”

“Yeah,” snorted Seokmin, “he gets that from you. Ow!” Jihoon left Seokmin to nurse his aching foot on his own, venturing over to Mingyu to see how the new hire was doing. 

The afternoon went by quickly, and it was time to close. Mingyu said bye to the three of them, already having offered a ride home. Jihoon struggled to kick both Seokmin and Soonyoung in the shin to quiet them down as he turned down Mingyu’s offer respectfully. 

“Oh, come on, hyung,” Seokmin said as the three of them waved bye to Mingyu’s white Challenger GT, “that’s the nicest car I’ve seen anyone drive in our town. Can you imagine how plush that leather interior probably is? You know that’s the type of car no one will touch around here because they think the car owner must be the head honcho bad-ass of something.”

“Yeah!” Soonyoung pouted in agreement. 

Jihoon ignored their complaints, as usual, and began walking. 

“Oh, actually, guys,” Soonyoung stopped walking abruptly, “I’m going on a date tonight.”

“A date?”

Seokmin tried not to react, but it felt like his heart just dropped onto the pavement. 

“Yeah, you know Mina? The one in the dance department.” 

Seokmin nodded, remembering the quiet and beautiful girl all the guys had been buzzing about since last year. 

“She asked me out,” Soonyoung grinned sheepishly. 

Jihoon looked worriedly over at Seokmin, who looked for a second like he was about to cry. But Seokmin cleared his throat, composing himself. “Ooh, you like her? I didn’t know that.”

“Nah,” Soonyoung shrugged, “I’m not interested in her.”

“Then why are you going on a date with her?”

“It’s fun.”

“Fun?” echoed Seokmin, sounding a bit angry. Jihoon’s eyes darted back and forth nervously between the nonchalant Soonyoung and ready-to-explode Seokmin.

“Yeah, you should try it too, Seokmin. You’re a nice decent-looking guy. No reason not to go after the fish in the sea.”

“Yeah, no thanks,” said Seokmin through gritted teeth, scoffing, “That’s disgusting. You’re so gross.”

“Hey,” Soonyoung frowned, “That’s a little harsh towards your hyung, don’t you--”

“You’re not my real hyung.” Seokmin turned, snapped, and stormed off in a hurry while Soonyoung stood, flabbergasted by what had just happened. Jihoon offered a small shrug and waved Soonyoung good-bye before turning around to catch up to Seokmin, who was practically speed-walking down the street. 

“Seok--”

“I hate him!” Seokmin stopped suddenly, tears in his eyes, whipping around to see a startled Jihoon. “I hate him! Why… why does he have to be like, like that?” 

Wordlessly, Jihoon pulled his younger brother into a hug. Even though Seokmin was now much taller and bigger than him, Jihoon knew how tender and small he was on the inside. He patted Seokmin’s back as the younger boy sobbed his heart out. 

“Aigoo,” Jihoon muttered as he brushed Seokmin’s hair, “Seokmin, you’re too good for your own good sometimes.” 

Seokmin whimpered as he slowed down with the crying. “Sometimes,” he sniffed, “I wish he would just be cold towards me. If he didn’t-- didn’t look at me so warmly or-- or said nice things to me…” 

“You might still like him, all the same,” Jihoon tried to reason. 

“No,” Seokmin shook his head, “If he wasn’t so bad at pushing me away, I wouldn’t keep having feelings like we… like we belong together. And lately, I'm...” The poor boy broke out into a sob again.

Closing his eyes, Jihoon sighed. His baby brother number 1 was so miserable because of Jihoon’s best friend. His baby brother number 2 has been Pied Piper’d by Jihoon’s other best friend. 

God, I wish I could kill them both, Jihoon thought as he comforted Seokmin again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still updating on days ending in 0 and 5, but I may have to slow down in the future. We'll cross the bridge when we get there!
> 
> Also, re: Wonchan: I know Dino (and DK, Mingyu, Minghao, Seungkwan and Vernon) used to be a tiny baby and a minor when Seventeen started, but he is now 21 in international age, which means he has been a legal adult for a while. And this is a mature-rated fic which has him in a pairing as a legal consenting adult. If you feel uncomfortable with the idea of him being depicted as in a mature adult relationship that involves physical interactions and mentions of sexual activity, I would strongly encourage you to go ahead and read other fics on this wonderful platform that are not rated M. 
> 
> Full disclosure, I am also planning to make a side-drabble/spin-off type series that would be categorized as rated E. I know there is no true age safeguard on this platform, but I strongly encourage all readers, especially younger readers, to consider refraining from reading these rated fics. There's a lot of misinformation and weird depictions of sex out there on the internet, and unfortunately, we do not have perfectly accurate, informative, and appropriate sexual education available everywhere. The ability to distinguish between what's accurate and what's flourishes of fiction, as well as the ability to handle the content that comes to you instead of letting it influence you *is* associated with age, though it doesn't come at the same age for everyone. I know it'll sound hypocritical coming from me, who is writing and delivering such content, but I hope one day you'll see what I mean.


	7. Middle of the Night

Jihoon stared curiously at the door knob turning slowly in the dark. 

He had gotten up to go to the bathroom. Standing still with the empty cup in his hand, Jihoon thought about the nearest thing he could grab and use effectively as a weapon. The front door creaked open, and there was rustling. Footsteps that sounded like at least two people. His heart pounding, Jihoon tried to swallow and remain calm, plotting out his next moves. 

The automatic front entrance light turned on. 

Chan and Wonwoo both stood still like deers trapped in head light.

Wordlessly, Jihoon, lifted the cup, pulling his arm into a nice pitching throw position. 

“N-no, Jihoon, I can explain,” Wonwoo jumped out in front of Chan immediately. This made Jihoon pause. After what seemed like a frozen eternity, Jihoon lowered his arm slowly. 

“Good choice, Wonwoo. Jumping in to protect my baby otter.”

Wonwoo took a deep breath in, and then knelt down on the floor in front of Woozi. He screwed his eyes shut tight. 

“Hyung!” Chan yelped in horror. 

“Listen, Jihoon, I’m sorry for all the pain and confusion I’ve caused you. The betrayal. To be honest, I couldn’t follow through with my feelings in the beginning because I knew it was wrong. It was unfair to you. It was unfair to Channie. But I want you to know, Chan has done nothing wrong. So if you stay mad at me and want to-- to hit me or something, I’m okay with that. But please, don’t take this out on Chan. He’s a growing boy. He needs his home. He needs his clothes. None of my long pants fit him.”

“Hm,” Jihoon sighed after a dramatic few seconds of silence had passed. Wonwoo slowly opened his eyes. “You know, you guys could have called me or something, instead of making me worried about someone breaking into our home at this ungodly hour of the night.”

“Wait, you’re-- you’re not mad?” Chan asked tentatively, assisting Wonwoo up from the ground. 

Jihoon shrugged. “Well, I was. I still am, to be honest, But I can’t stay mad at my baby brother forever.” He smiled warmly at Chan, his little dimples poking in adorably. “And as for Wonwoo, right now he’s doing pretty well on the best-friend scale by default. Oh!” 

Jihoon didn’t get to brace for impact as gleeful Chan and Wonwoo practically tackled him into a group hug. He finally shook them off and cleared his throat. 

“We need to set some ground rules, though.”

Wonwoo gasped dramatically, earning himself a swat from both Jihoon and Chan. 

“You have to limit PDA if you don’t want me to die of bursting a brain aneurysm at the tender age of 21. That includes making out, kissing, hugging for more than five seconds, holding hands.”

“Oh, the hug thing might be rough,” Wonwoo murmured, earning another playful swat from Chan. 

“When you guys go on a date, I have to be notified at least a day before. Where you’re going, when you’re going, what time you’ll be back. Also, no more sleepovers.”

Both Chan and Wonwoo broke out in protest. Jihoon blocked his ears, pretending not to hear. 

“But hyung,” Chan implored, “I really do get a lot of school work done at Wonwoo-hyung’s house. How about just the weekends?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Jihoon,” Wonwoo growled quietly, “I know what you think will happen at these sleepovers. But just so you know, I have no qualms about the time of the day or where we--”

Jihoon blocked Wonwoo’s mouth. “Ew, no. Gross! Not listening.”

“Once every week,” Chan asserted,”That’s my final offer.” Wonwoo looked at Chan with proud eyes, marveling at what a great negotiator and businessman Chan was going to be. He pressed Jihoon on too. 

“That’s *our* final offer. Or we’ll just move Chan’s stuff out and he can stay with me.”

Jihoon bit down on his knuckles. He knew he was being silly. Wonwoo was an upstanding guy and Chan was a smart little boy. They were, as Chan said, two consenting adults in a healthy relationship. 

“Fine,” he finally conceded, letting out a deep sigh and shaking his head. 

He was getting too soft already. 

-

“Seokku.”

A very drunken voice called to him from across the phone call. Seokmin groaned internally, his teeth clenching at the thought of how sloppy and clingy Soonyoung was right now. 

“Hyung, go home. And stop calling me.”

“Nooooo, Seokminnie, no. I’m going to go over to your place.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Yessss, I am! I need my warm body pillow, Seokmin. My warm, fuzzy, sweet, lovable body pillow. I want to see my Seokminnie right now. Pleaaaaaaase? Mmm?”

As if it wasn’t enough that Seokmin was chugging away at his Screenplay assignment on a Saturday night, Soonyoung had the galls to call him after they haven’t spoken in days. And every word Soonyoung spoke inflicted a paper cut to Seokmin’s heart. Not deep enough to bleed out, but painful enough to constantly remind Seokmin of the harsh truth that to Soonyoung, this was all just a game. The stinging always lasted longer than the wounds seemed to testify, and Seokmin wondered if calluses would form around his heart one day. 

“Hey, Kwon, we’re taking another shot!” a boisterous voice called loudly across the phone speaker. It sounded like Seungcheol, the TA for the Poli-Sci class Seokmin and Soonyoung had taken together last semester. Oh, good, Seokmin thought, making a mental note to text Seungcheol the address to Soonyoung’s house in case Soonyoung fell asleep at the party as he often does.

“Baby, Seokmin,” Soonyoung drawled on, “please come here and take me home.” Some girls giggled loudly in the background. 

Seokmin sighed. It made him so mad, the way that Soonyoung got completely wasted and so clingy. That was his M.O.. Soonyoung was a bona fide lightweight. He knows fully well that he gets tipsy after a can of beer and completely drunk after another one. Yet Soonyoung keeps insisting on going to these parties, getting intoxicated, and clinging on to any warm body. Then, he would crash at Seokmin’s bed, nursed back to health by Seokmin with a nice bean sprout soup when the hangover hit the following morning. 

But not today, Seokmin resolved. 

“Hyung. I do not want to see you. We haven’t spoken for days. And you are not coming over here today.”

He hung up before Soonyoung could say anything else. 

Seokmin’s heart was heavy, but he really could not take it any longer. He had a crush on Soonyoung for the longest time. So much so that he followed Soonyoung into the Performing Arts major. His hopes had been fueled by how affectionate and clingy Soonyoung was. But lately, Seokmin wondered if there was a point to continue this one-sided longing for something deeper. He texted Seungcheol the address to Soonyoung’s house, hoping that the strong senior would have the decency to at least send Soonyoung home with an Uber. 

Seokmin began typing away on his laptop again. However, he was shocked by his phone buzzing. Pausing the typing, he picked up the call. 

“Hello?”

“Hey, this is Seungcheol.” Seokmin recognized the throaty deep voice. 

“Hi, did Soonyoung-hyung pass out? You can just put him in an Uber, he usually sobers up--”

“No, no,” Seungcheol interjected, “it’s-- it’s a little more complicated than that.”

Seokmin’s heart sank. 

“Did...” he gulped, “Did something happen to Soonyoung, or--”

“Oh, god, no! Sorry, nothing like that. But he-- he’s bawling his eyes out and refusing to get up from the table until you get here. And this place is going to close soon, you see…”

Seokmin heard the hysterical crying in the background. He closed his eyes, biting his lower lip. Soonyoung was usually not very tearful, but Seokmin had witnessed one of these temper tantrum meltdowns before, and they were not pretty. He heard Seungcheol clearing his throat and apologizing profusely to the waitstaff. 

“Where are you guys?”

-

Thankfully, Soonyoung was at a bar just a few blocks away. Seokmin walked through the door, nodded politely to Seungcheol and some of his friends, grabbed a nearly drenched Soonyoung by the collar, and nearly dragged him out of there. 

“Seokku? Seokmin, is that really you?”

Soonyoung sniffled as they hit the cold air. One arm around Soonyoung’s torso to hoist the drunk boy up, Seokmin ignored him and continued to usher him down the block. They walked in silence, up the steps to the Lee residence. The winter night’s wind must have sobered Soonyoung up, because he became less sniffly and clingy as they walked into the apartment. Seokmin quietly opened the door and Soonyoung followed in obediently, trying to take off his shoes and nearly tumbling. Luckily, Seokmin wordlessly caught him by the arm and remained there to support him. He took Soonyoung’s jacket off as they moved into Seokmin’s room. Seokmin closed the door behind them, hanging their jackets up on the door hooks. 

“Seokmin.”

They whipped around as Soonyoung grabbed Seokmin’s shirt by the collar, pulling the two of them close. His mouth was pressing into Seokmin’s, way before Seokmin had a chance to fend it off. The younger boy clenched his eyes shut, tasting the sharp, bitter alcohol that clung onto Soonyoung’s breath. The heat between the two of them was almost palpable as Seokmin struggled to find balance and Soonyoung sucked him in more desperately, wet and sloppy. For a moment, Seokmin wanted to believe that the desperation was heartfelt, that it wasn’t just Soonyoung toying with anyone’s heart or a clingy habit of a drunkard. Soonyoung’s arms were hooked over Seokmin’s shoulders, wrapping around the sturdy neck tightly and trying to bring their two bodies closer. Seokmin couldn’t help but fall into the kiss by habit. 

It was always like this. Soonyoung boiled over like volcanic eruption, and Seokmin couldn’t help but succumb to the burn every time. Their tongues twisted and wrestled as Seokmin finally pushed Soonyoung onto the bed, trapping the smaller boy underneath him. Seokmin used his teeth to gently suck and pull away at Soonyoung’s lip, which elicited a moan and more frantic fingers coursing through Seokmin’s hair. The air was getting unbelievably hot as desire boiled over. They broke apart gently for a breath before igniting again into another kiss, rough and rushed, Seokmin’s nose crushing into Soonyoung’s cheek. Only after another thorough exploration of each other’s mouths did it hit Seokmin that they had fallen into the same trap, yet again. 

“Hyung,” he said finally, his voice hoarse, “we-- we can’t do this. Not anymore.” He sighed, hovering over Soonyoung in silence for a few seconds. It was true. They had been like this for so long, undefined, affectionate and physically intimate when the mood struck. But never intentional. 

Seokmin bolted up and climbed out of the bed at the sound of Soonyoung sniffling again, afraid of waking a very disgruntled Jihoon. He peered closely at Soonyoung’s face, which was lit dimly under the moonlight. But instead of launching into a sobbing hysteria again, Soonyoung was blinking away tears silently, his face scrunched and his lips in a pout. 

And why, Seokmin wondered as his heart spasmed with pain, are you the one with an expression of such hurt?

“Don’t leave, Seokmin,” Soonyoung finally mumbled, his eyes half-lidded and tearful, “Don’t leave me… please…” 

The older boy blinked slowly a few more times, finally closing his eyes, his hand still clutching Seokmin’s sleeve. 

Seokmin just sat there for a few minutes, listening to Soonyoung breathe softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update will be a short side drabble, which will be posted as a separate work in a series with this one!


	8. Red Velvet Latte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah, sorry for the late update, guys! I've been busy because of getting a new part-time job and the coronavirus affecting everything at work. It's going to be a busy season for me, so I'll be updating on days ending in 0's for the time being (every 10 days). I really appreciate all the comments and feedback you leave on this work! Thank you so much!

“Good morning,” Jihoon cheerfully greeted Mingyu, hoping that the signs of tossing and turning all night in an anxious mood weren’t showing up too much on his face. The tan handsome man smiled back waving his hand in greeting. Sighing as Mingyu disappeared to the employee room to don his apron, Jihoon thanked the universe for getting another hand to help out at the cafe.

It had been a week since Mingyu began working here. Jihoon was shocked by how quickly and smoothly the two of them have transitioned into one team. Though clumsy at times, Mingyu was a pretty quick learner. And however many cups he broke, he seemed to be more than making up for by unwittingly developing a strong, steady fan base of customers. 

It did not escape Jihoon’s notice that there was a marked increase in the number of customers both in the morning and the afternoon, particularly ones that batted their eyelash at Mingyu so fast, Jihoon wondered if it was a flirting effort or a vitamin K deficiency. Many of the afternoon customers sat and ordered pastries and refills of drinks, which was driving up the profit margin. And, to be completely honest, Mingyu was very attentive and friendly. Hell, if Jihoon was a customer, he’d be going out of his way to drop by and watch Mingyu excitedly show him the latest latte art he perfected. 

“Okay,” Jihoon said as they finally got a bit of break to work on more latte art techniques, “so let’s try practicing a rose today. It’ll be like a variation on rosetta.”

“Oh, awesome,” Mingyu replied, cleaning the steamer wand, “just in time for Valentine’s Day.”

Valentine’s Day? Jihoon wondered, staring at Mingyu with a puzzled look. Mingyu must have noticed the confusion, because he began laughing at Jihoon. “Yes, Valentine’s Day. You know it’s this Friday, right?”

“Oh!” gasped Jihoon, shocked, “I… I forgot. It never was something I, you know, celebrated or anything, so it completely slipped my mind. February 14th, right?” Mingyu nodded, with an amused smile still on his lips. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t think about it. I’m sure you’ve had admirers flood you with chocolates in the past.”

This time, it was Jihoon’s turn to laugh. “No way. I’m not a big chocolate guy anyways, but not everyone gets an armload of chocolates on Valentine’s Day like you, Mingyu. That’s not what happened for the rest of us less attractive dudes.” He shrugged as he poured the shot into the cup. 

“I think you’re quite attractive,” Mingyu said as-matter-of-factly. 

While they silently worked on foaming the milk, Jihoon’s hand kept slipping as he tried not to turn bright red. He felt his heart rate skyrocket as Mingyu took the frothing pitcher from Jihoon’s unsteady hands. 

I’m screwed, he thought. 

Jihoon excused himself to go to the bathroom, splashed some cold water on his face, and took some deep breaths to calm down. Mingyu had said it so nonchalantly and probably meant nothing serious when he called Jihoon attractive. It sounded like empty flattery. Sure. After all, Jihoon is his boss. What are you going to do, tell your boss that he’s ugly and plain? Mingyu was too nice to do that, even if he wasn’t afraid of Jihoon firing him. Which would never happen anyways, because Jihoon was so relieved to have Mingyu around and desperately needed Mingyu to stay. 

Wake up, Jihoon reminded himself, before you end up driving Mingyu away with your awkwardness. 

They practiced making roses for the afternoon. Jihoon even had the brilliant idea of using red velvet syrup to make a special red-colored espresso to pour the foamed milk onto. Mingyu made a non-sweet version by swirling in just flicks of the syrup to the petals of the rose. Then, they swapped cups. 

“You know, I never would have pegged you down as a sweet-tooth type,” Jihoon marveled, watching Mingyu savor the very sweet red velvet latte. 

Mingyu shrugged. “My nanny used to be a patissier in Russia, so she used to make us treats all the time.”

“Your… nanny?”

Jihoon sipped on the rich, nutty latte that Mingyu had made, watching the swirls of red disappear into the drink. A nanny. It was expected, of course, that Mingyu probably came from a quite wealthy family. After all, who wears Gucci sunglasses and drives a GT Challenger to a minimum wage job? But it caught Jihoon off guard because Mingyu had blended so seamlessly into the cafe, as if he had always been a part of Jihoon’s life. 

“So what are your plans for this Friday?” Mingyu asked, gulping down his latte. 

“Hmm,” Jihoon shrugged, “Nothing special, I guess, just another Friday here and then home for dinner. My youngest brother…” 

He sighed, trying to hold off another headache thinking about Chan and Wonwoo. 

“I guess this year, my youngest brother will be out on a date. So it’ll be me and Seokmin eating dinner at home. We’ll probably watch an Avengers movie or something. What about you, Mingyu? Do you have plans? A date with… your girlfriend or something?” He tried to play it off cool, but Jihoon was anxious to figure out if Mingyu was seeing anyone. Not that Mingyu being single meant anything for Jihoon, of course, but just out of curiosity. 

Jihoon looked up nervously at Mingyu, who was not saying anything. The tall boy set down his cup and lowered his hands to his lap. Shooting a strange look at Jihoon, Mingyu sat back in his chair. 

“No,” he said, with confusion still laced on his face, “But why would you think I had a girlfriend?”

“Oh, sorry,” Jihoon quickly answered, “I didn’t-- I mean, I just figured-- I wasn’t sure if you did or not. I mean, you’re a young, good-looking guy…” His voice faltered away under the almost mesmerizingly intense gaze from Mingyu. “I’m sorry.” Jihoon felt so confused by Mingyu’s response and expression, crumbling away in panic at the notion that this probably looked super strange from Mingyu’s point of view. But Mingyu continued to just watch Jihoon in silence, neither dismissing him as silly nor getting upset at this faux pas. 

They both jolted up at the sound of the front door bells jingling. Mingyu scrambled to get behind the counter. Jihoon saw that it was a female customer, one that had begun frequenting the cafe last week. She’s very pretty, he thought, as the tall slender girl waltzed upto the counter. She was dressed rather fashionably in a neat dress, wearing a cross-body bag that looked sturdy and well-made. As she chatted with Mingyu, Jihoon couldn’t help but look back and forth between the two of them. Because this woman was on the taller side, Mingyu didn’t seem to be towering over her. They were both like statuesque models. It looked so balanced and perfect, like a magazine pictorial. 

Jihoon muddled the iced tea with peach syrup when he overheard the woman.

“So, Mingyu. I was wondering if you’d like to grab a nice dinner with me on Friday night.”

Instinctively, Jihoon’s heart plummeted to the floor. Would Mingyu say yes? Of course he would, Jihoon thought, straining out some of the ice. The two of them looked like one of those celebrity couples people follow with a cute couple nickname. 

“No, I’m sorry, I already have plans with someone.”

Shocked, Jihoon almost whipped around at Mingyu while handing the tea to the woman. 

“Oh,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment, “with someone special, I presume?”

“Yes. As a matter of fact,” Mingyu replied, pointing at Jihoon, “it’s this guy over here.”

The tall woman’s eyes widened as she looked at Jihoon up and down. “Oh! Oh, gosh, I’m… I didn’t realize you were…”

“It’s alright, there’s no way you could just tell. Right?”

After the woman had left, Jihoon turned around quickly at Mingyu, who was pretending to be inspecting some of the glass cups for water stains. 

“Excuse me,” Jihoon hissed, “I do not appreciate being used as your excuse to turn a girl down.”

Mingyu shrugged and threw up his hand. “I didn’t tell her anything that wasn’t true.”

Jihoon scoffed, putting away pastries from the display case into the storage bins. “You told her we were going on a date on Friday! She thinks we’re-- we’re…” He fell silent as he realized the implications of what he was saying. 

“Well,” Mingyu finally spoke after a long, uncomfortable pause, “one of those things, at least, could be true.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, since you don’t have plans… We could go out on a dinner date on Friday.”

Jihoon was at a loss for words. He was almost afraid to look at Mingyu. There’s no way that this hot, tall, handsome dude was actually asking Jihoon out… Right? What if this was a joke? Jihoon felt his heart beating rapidly and his ears turning bright red. He couldn’t think straight. But looking up at Mingyu, he saw that the Mingyu, too, had reddened his sun-kissed cheeks, those bright and soft eyes full of earnest anxiety. 

“I was thinking Italian,” Mingyu shrugged with a feigned air of lightheartedness, “There’s a place a little bit off from here, closer to where I live. So… what do you think?”

Letting the question hang in the air for a bit, Jihoon couldn’t help but relish in the newness and uncertainty of this situation. The way that Mingyu approached him always left Jihoon confused and curious. “Uhm,” he finally answered, “I would be down for that. Sure.” He went back to emptying out the canister of brewed coffee, trying to contain his excitement. 

God, it felt like he was back in high school again.

Mingyu noticed the cute tiny dimples did not leave Jihoon’s cheek while they closed the store.


	9. Birthday Cake

"Happy birthday," Wonwoo exclaimed as he pecked Chan on the cheek, "and I bought you a birthday muffin!"

"Oh, yum!" Chan's eyes lit up as he took the treat from Wonwoo's hands and hugged his boyfriend, "Thanks, hyung."

Since the secret was already out to Jihoon, the couple decided to let their relationship be officially known at school as well. Not that many people were shocked by this news. After all, Wonwoo and Chan did spend a lot of time together even at school. This was more of a title change than anything else. But Chan was glad he didn’t have to keep sneaking glances to see if Wonwoo was being hit on by other people. And Wonwoo was glad that he could hold and hug Chan as much as he wanted at school instead of holding hands under the table. 

They stood there for a second, just hugging. 

“You’re done after this class, right?” Wonwoo whispered. Chan nodded. 

“Excellent. Because I have somewhere to take you today.”

“Really?” Chan looked up at him, beaming. “But what about helping Jihoon hyung?”

“Don’t worry. I had to write up a whole report with an excel sheet and a timetable and everything, but I got this approved through him. He said it’s been okay at the cafe since Mingyu started.” Wonwoo grinned and ruffled Chan’s hair, laughing at Chan’s protests and attempting to stop him. 

-

Chan’s heart was jumping as soon as Wonwoo grabbed his hand in front of the Student Union building and they started running towards the parking lot. He saw that Wonwoo borrowed his dad’s fancy BMW instead of bringing the beat-up Honda he usually shared with his brother Bohyuk. As Wonwoo opened the passenger seat door and motioned for him to get in, Chan took his backpack off and got into the car gracefully. 

“Where are we going?” he asked Wonwoo as the older boy drove out of the parking lot. Wonwoo chuckled. “You’ll see.”

Since they commuted to school, Wonwoo and Chan didn’t get a lot of chances to go out of town at all, let alone together. Chan peered out of the window curiously as they rode down the highway. The sky was still bleak from winter, but the sun was out today. What a perfect day, Chan thought as he turned on the radio. 

Chan felt the car slow down as he opened his eyes. He must have dozed off during the ride. “Sorry, hyung,” he apologized sheepishly. Wonwoo smiled. “Not a problem, birthday boy. We’re here. C’mon, let’s go.”

Stepping out of the car, Chan squeezed his eyes shut and stretched before turning around to see where they were. The sun was quite bright. He began to follow Wonwoo towards a building, enjoying the sound of gravel crunching underneath their feet. Squinting, he tried to read the sign on top of the building. 

“Aquarium… Huh?” Chan stopped in his tracks, which made Wonwoo turn around. “Hyung…”

Wonwoo shrugged. “You said you’ve never been to one before and you wanted to go. So.” It came up in a conversation once. Chan confessed that because his dad was working all the time and then Jihoon was working all the time after their dad passed away, he never ended up making the hour trip to the nearest aquarium. Wonwoo had planned this for about a whole month before they were even found out by Jihoon. 

Wonwoo laughed heartily when Chan nearly tackled him with another hug. “Thanks for remembering, Wonwoo-hyung,” Chan whispered, “Best birthday present ever.” 

Chan was nearly bouncing off the walls, just like an excited otter pup they saw as they first entered the aquarium. Because it was a regular weekday, there weren't many people around. Wonwoo paid for the tickets and grabbed Chan's hand, startling the birthday boy.

"Ready?"

They saw every corner of the aquarium, from the tiniest fishes to the huge whale that swept across a glass-walled tunnel. Chan stared at the pretty sea creatures, dumbfounded, while Wonwoo snapped away pictures of Chan and the fish. It was too precious not to record, he reasoned, making Chan pose for pictures despite the younger boy’s initial embarrassment. They went and touched the stingrays in the open pool, pulling back at the strange texture and then dunking their hands back in again for more. Wonwoo waved to the penguins, who were eating lunch of bloodied fish being tossed by the aquarium trainers. They clapped in delight as the seals soared back to the edge of the pool, barking and clapping back. 

"Was your first time at the aquarium everything you hoped it would be?" Wonwoo nudged gently as they sat on a bench, watching the turtles somersault in the water. “Better, because I have you,” Chan laughed, nudging him back. Wonwoo felt himself blushing at Chan’s words. “Corny,” Wonwoo muttered and coughed, to hide the embarrassment. But Chan took a glance at him and smiled slyly, knowing well that Wonwoo was glowing in pride at Chan’s words. 

After thoroughly enjoying the aquarium experience, they grabbed a light sandwich from a deli and went out to a nearby park for a nice stroll. The weather was still quite chilly out, but it was perfect for them to cuddle together on a bench while munching on an Italian sandwich for a lazy, late lunch. They watched the sun slowly creep down to the edge of the lake and then got in the car to go home. 

-

“Surprise!!!” 

Chan laughed in delight as he walked into the cafe and saw all of his favorite hyungs piled in there with balloons and decoration and cake. 

“C’mon,” Seokmin ushered him to the brightly-lit cake. They sang happy birthday to the youngest Lee brother and cooed as Chan scrunched his eyes and blew out the candles. 

“It’s 6:04,” Jihoon barked over the festive commotion, looking at his watch, “You told me you’d have him back by 6 o’clock, Wonwoo.” He began to grab Wonwoo in a headlock, but was stopped by Chan gripping him in a hug. 

“Wonwoo-hyung was very good about the time. He parked here at 5:59 exactly. I was the one making us late by kissing--”

“Okay! I think we heard enough.” Jihoon huffed angrily as he let go of Wonwoo. Chan snickered at his brother’s reddened face, and went to help cut the cake. 

Jihoon slumped back to the table where he and Mingyu were sitting. Two slightly unfamiliar faces were sitting at the table. “Hi,” he said cautiously, “I’m Jihoon. Chan’s oldest brother. And you guys are…?”

“I’m Junhui,” one of them, a tall boy with a neatly swept brown hair, introduced himself, shaking Jihoon’s hand. “And this is Minghao. We’re both in the dance class with Soonyoung.” The other boy, who was sitting quietly but sporting a shaggy bright-red hair, nodded and extended his hand also. “We’re international students from China,” Minghao explained, “Soonyoung invited us because we’re working on a project tonight. I told him we didn’t want to intrude…” 

“But Soonyoung was being Soonyoung, right?” Jihoon grinned widely, patting the timid Minghao on the back, “I know. I’ve been his best friend for years. Listen, my other brother Seokmin is a Performance Arts major at Pledis College, too. You guys are welcome to drop by the cafe to hang out, okay?”

Jihoon asked the two boys if they wanted anything to drink-- a hot tea, please, for Minghao and just water for Junhui-- and went to the kitchen to get it. 

Meanwhile, Seokmin was busy introducing his new friends to Chan. 

“So this,” he pointed at the two boys next to him, “is Jeonghan and Joshua. Jeonghan is in the Screenplay class with me, and Joshua is his friend.”

“I know you,” Soonyoung interrupted, nudging Joshua, “I saw you guys at Seungcheol’s party last semester.” Joshua nodded. “Yeah, I’m actually a business major, so I’ve also seen Wonwoo and Chan at department events before, even though we’re not in the same years.” 

Chan gasped in amazement. “Oh! You’re THE Joshua Hong. Aren’t you the senior who’s triple majoring in business, management, and music?” Joshua shrugged and laughed, but Chan looked at him with deep admiration. Joshua Hong was the meter stick that all the current business majors were compared against in the department professors’ minds. “Us business majors have a high representation here. Isn’t that the guy who dropped out a week into classes after transferring out from biology?” Joshua pointed at Mingyu, who was now helping Jihoon carry some of the drinks out to the party guests.

“Ah, Yoon and Hong. The two big troublemakers meet my other troublemaker, Kwon,” Seungcheol came over, putting his arms around both Soonyoung and Jeonghan. Seokmin’s face hardened for a second, but he caught himself and forcefully relaxed his face. But Seungcheol must have noticed, though, because he chuckled and lowered his arms to shake Seokmin’s hand. He pulled Seokmin aside from the group. “How’ve you been, my friend?” he asked in a gruff voice, “Thanks for bailing us out from Soonyoung’s crying mess the other day.” 

“No problem,” Seokmin quickly replied, “Though I think next time, all that could be avoided if you hadn’t given him so many shots.” Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. None of us were giving him anything, he was practically guzzling out the bar the moment he walked in. Lover’s quarrel, I presume?”

Blushing, Seokmin shook his head and his hands simultaneously. “Oh, no, no. We’re not anything like that.” 

“Hmm,” Seungcheol tilted his head, a confused frown on his face, “Interesting. Well, whatever is going on, I’ll make sure next time that Soonyoung doesn’t drink so much. I’m not too keen on facing the wrath of Baby Seokmin again.”

Seokmin was absolutely flustered as he rejoined the conversation that was going on between Jeonghan, Joshua, and Chan. The sly wink that Seungcheol gave was unnerving. He sighed and covered his face with his hands, trying to wipe away the imaginary worries from his head. 

“What’s wrong?” Jeonghan asked, brushing Seokmin’s hair. “Oh, nothing,” Seokmin tried to smile, “just a little headache I guess.” 

“A headache? Ugh, my poor baby.” Jeonghan fretted over Seokmin, putting the back of his hand against Seokmin’s forehead. Jeonghan tended to be clingy, which worked absolutely fine for Seokmin, who had been trained by Soonyoung for years. That’s why they hit it off so quickly after being assigned as partners for the class. Jeonghan was very impressed that Seokmin was able to handle Jeonghan’s mother hen mode. But Seokmin yelped when another arm hooked around his waist. 

“Seokmin,” Soonyoung whispered into his ear, “ a word, please?”

They stole away to the back of the employee break room, which was dark and empty. “What?” Seokmin asked after a few moments of silence, uncomfortable being alone with Soonyoung in a dark room. He couldn’t see it clearly, but he still felt Soonyoung’s gaze on him, hot. Seokmin turned his face away, unwilling to make eye contact. 

“That Jeonghan guy,” Soonyoung said finally, “You seem to be really friendly with him.”

“Jeonghan? Yeah. He’s great.”

“Great?” Soonyoung asked in a tone that made Seokmin feel very unsettled, “Huh.” 

Unconsciously clutching Seokmin’s hand, Soonyoung bit his lips. Seokmin saw and wanted to pull it out, as Soonyoung had a habit of chewing the skin off of his lower lip. But he figured this was a bad idea. They started speaking again after that night, but there was an eerie tension that stood between the two of them. Therefore, Seokmin stood still while Soonyoung continued to hold him there, not saying anything. 

Now Seokmin was annoyed. “Is that it? You brought me back here to talk about that?”

“No. I mean… what do you think about Jeonghan? How’s his… personality and everything? Obviously, he’s a very attractive guy.”

“Oh, no,” Seokmin spoke firmly, frowning and pushing away Soonyoung’s hand, “Hyung, you cannot hit on Jeonghan because--”

There was a sudden, loud crash. The two boys froze. 

“SEOKMINIE HYUNG!!!” Chan yelled from outside, interrupting their conversation, “WE SPILLED THE CAKE AND THE STAND BROKE!!!” 

Alarmed, Seokmin rushed out of the break room to see if anyone was hurt, leaving Soonyoung standing alone quietly in the dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I've started folding in the other Seventeen boys into the fic. Hopefully all of them will make small appearances soon enough.
> 
> This chapter is going up a little bit early because I'm a frontline personnel for the COVID-19 response and I may be out for the next month or so with my new duty, which starts tomorrow. I am luckily going to be tested fairly regularly, so if I remain healthy, I may be out for over a month. If I catch the coronavirus, I may be sent home early for mandatory quarantine. I guess next installment will come whenever I end up being sent home. 
> 
> Thank you so much, as always, for feedback and comments. I know this is not a fast paced fic, but I will try to come back to it as fast as I can. Stay healthy, y'all!


	10. Date Night

Wonwoo was the first to figure it out. 

He was absolutely suspicious about Jihoon’s sudden approval of his Valentine’s Day date plan, after days of arguing over the most ridiculous details of Wonwoo's two-page proposal. And to him, there was one clear explanation for why Jihoon would suddenly be so keen about his youngest brother being out on a date on Valentine’s Day.

“Did you make plans to go on a date on Friday with Mingyu?” Wonwoo asked straightforwardly at dinner, making both Jihoon and Chan choke on the leftover seaweed soup. 

And from the way that Jihoon turned bright red, no one needed him to answer to confirm. 

Chan was absolutely flabbergasted. “Hyung, I didn’t know you guys were serious like that.” 

Jihoon shrugged, his face beet-red from embarrassment. “It’s not that serious. We’re just getting dinner together. On Valentine’s Day. That’s normal employer-employee relationship, right?” He looked up only to find Chan giving him the side-eye that indicated clearly no, this was not an ordinary, everyday, normal happening. 

“Good for you, dude,” Soonyoung squeezed Jihoon’s shoulder before picking up another piece of kimchi. “Hey, where’s Seokmin, by the way?”

“Huh,” Chan tilted his head with a pensive look, “weird that you don’t know. He said he was going to Jeonghan-hyung’s house to work on the midterm project together.” 

Jihoon snorted. “You know what’s really weird? Kwon Soonyoung being here even though Seokmin’s not. What’s your excuse today? You can’t tell me Seokmin told you to stay for dinner."

Soonyoung squeezed Jihoon’s cheeks, nearly risking his life but dodging Jihoon’s flying fists in time. He laughed at the fiery boy. “What, I can’t just hang out with my best friends at my best friend’s house?”

“I never invited you,” Jihoon growled, “so usually, that’s a hard no.”

Chan and Wonwoo gently broke the arguing boys apart, like parents separating twin toddlers. 

-

Friday came more quickly than Jihoon had expected. He greeted Mingyu in the morning, blushing as the tall boy presented a small bunch of roses to him. 

“You didn’t have to… I mean, I didn’t even get you anything.”

“It’s okay,” Mingyu gently replied, “I wanted to.”

They fell quickly into the rhythm of working, but Jihoon couldn’t help but feel flustered, his mind constantly returning to Mingyu’s thoughtful roses and this feeling that he had messed up before the date even began. They were both kept quite busy, as the special Valentine’s Day drinks were a hit. Many couples flooded the store, constantly reminding Jihoon of the impending date and making him more and more anxious. 

He had a chance to check his phone after the post-lunch rush was over. Wonwoo had texted him, letting him know that he and Chan were grabbing snacks before heading off to couples rock-climbing. Jihoon smiled. As much as he hated to admit it, Wonwoo had been pretty meticulous about following the ground rules Jihoon had set for them. It was not hard to see that Wonwoo cared very much about Chan. 

Jihoon flinched at the warm breath on his left ear. “What are you smiling about?” Mingyu asked curiously. “N-nothing,” Jihoon blurted, a little bit shell-shocked by the sudden intrusion of Mingyu’s pretty and innocent eyes, “W-was I smiling?”

“Yeah, you were,” Mingyu said casually, “You get those dimples when you smile.”

Absolutely flustered, Jihoon didn’t know how the rest of the afternoon went by. He felt like he was on autopilot, his hands pulling shots and making drinks but his mind fixated on Mingyu’s words. Finally, the day was over. It was time to close shop. But Jihoon began feeling sweaty and nervous as they stacked up the chairs and mopped the floor. His eyes kept turning to look at Mingyu and then the vase of roses and back to Mingyu, who looked very confused at this point.

They walked pretty quietly to Mingyu’s car. Jihoon bashfully opened the door and got in, noting the pristine leather interior. It smelled nice, like Mingyu always did. He ran his finger across the rim of the cup holder before realizing that Mingyu was looking at him intensely. 

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Mingyu said with a frown, “But tell me if something is bothering you today.”

Jihoon blinked. “Bothering me? Nothing’s bothering me. Why would you say that?”

“Uh, you’re speaking about a mile a minute, and you keep fidgeting with your hand while giving me nervous stares.”

Oh. Jihoon’s eyes fell down to his lap, where his hands were, indeed, picking at each other nervously. He heard Mingyu sigh and sweep back his hair as he started the car. 

“I’m sorry,” Jihoon said quietly as he heard Mingyu click the seatbelt in, “It’s just me. Nothing to do with you. I guess I’m just nervous.”

Mingyu turned towards Jihoon. “Nervous? About what?”

“I, uh,” Jihoon cleared his throat, “haven’t been on… a date.” He felt immediately mortified, realizing how dumb he sounded. He glanced at Mingyu to see if the tall boy began laughing yet, but found those pretty soft eyes looking at him curiously. 

“Really? How long?”

Immediately, Jihoon turned red again, silently wishing he was home spending Valentine’s with his brothers, like he’s always done, instead of embarrassing himself in front of Mingyu. 

“Uhm,” he nearly squeaked, closing his eyes “technically, I’ve never been on a proper date. So forever, I guess.”

He was startled by the warmth of Mingyu’s torso in front of him suddenly. Opening his eyes, he sighed in relief as he realized that Mingyu was just reaching over Jihoon to pull down the seatbelt for him. Jihoon peaked again at Mingyu’s face. To his surprise, the handsome tan boy was smiling softly. 

“Well,” Mingyu cleared his throat, “I’m glad you chose to go on your very first date with me.”

Jihoon was shocked by the fanciness of the restaurant that Mingyu had made a reservation at. During their conversations yesterday, Mingyu made it seem as if it was just a neighborhood pizza restaurant. Jihoon immediately felt underdressed for the meal, but Mingyu linked and held his arm securely as they were led by the hostess to their table. 

As awkward as Jihoon felt walking into the restaurant, he found that he was soon quite enjoying himself. Mingyu was a lively conversationist, and it was hard not to open up to this charming boy. They talked about all kinds of things, like how Jihoon came to open a coffee shop for himself or how Mingyu decided to take a break from college. They had a lot in common, Jihoon found to his surprise. For example, they both enjoyed playing and watching sports. They were both really into the MCU movies, though Mingyu was into Iron Man and Jihoon was a die-hard Captain America fan. They talked and talked and Jihoon found to his disappointment that they had already blazed through the three-course meal, sharing the last bite of an extra chocolate lava cake that they ordered. 

They circled around the quiet empty grounds of the restaurant for a while before finally getting into the car. Jihoon blushed again as Mingyu pulled the seat belt over him, clicking it in securely. On the ride home, he couldn’t help the notice himself become more and more disappointed as they got closer to Pledisville. Jihoon hadn’t met or gotten to know someone in such a long time. He missed it, getting to know someone new and being able to act his own age around them. 

They arrived in front of the Lee residence, but neither of them wanted to be the first to break the magic of the moment. Jihoon looked down at his hands again. His right hand was still picking away at a piece of skin on the side of his left thumb. Without a warning, Mingyu took Jihoon’s left hand and pulled it towards the middle of the seats, his large warm hand enveloping Jihoon’s soft, slender fingers. Jihoon’s heart began beating wildly. 

“What did you think about your first date?” Mingyu murmured, his voice low and growly. 

“It was nice, I think,” Jihoon shrugged, trying to appear as collected as possible while he screamed internally at the way Mingyu was caressing his hand. 

Mingyu smiled warmly at him. “Do you think maybe… we could do this again?” Jihoon peered over at Mingyu’s face. His heart fluttered at the way Mingyu’s soft eyes glanced at him nervously. He was relieved to know that he wasn’t the only one who was feeling this way, timid but sure in desire. 

“I would love to. I’d love to go on another date with you.”

Mingyu grinned, and Jihoon couldn’t help but sink into Mingyu’s smile. He sensed Mingyu moving in closer and closer to his face. When their breaths were touching, Jihoon closed his eyes slowly. Warm, moist lips enveloped his mouth, as light as a butterfly landing on his hand. Jihoon’s head tilted to the right slowly, inviting Mingyu in to press in deeper. When Mingyu’s tongue pushed against Jihoon’s lips, Jihoon parted his mouth slowly, savoring the moment. 

They finally broke apart. Jihoon’s heart was beating so fast and the car felt extremely warm. He raised his eyes to see Mingyu’s twinkling eyes looking earnestly at him. It was almost unbearably sweet. Jihoon realized at this moment that he was sweating like crazy. 

“Thanks,” Mingyu said softly, letting go of Jihoon's hand. 

“Well, it’s getting late,” Jihoon announced to no one in particular, hoping that his reddened cheeks won’t be too noticeable in the dark. “Good night, Mingyu.” 

“Good night.” Mingyu chuckled as he watched the back of Jihoon’s head disappear, the tip of his ears bright red like Christmas lights. 

Jihoon winced as he walked up the stairs into the apartment. Nearly everything tonight had more or less been perfect, save for his lame exit just now. He sighed as he struggled to pull out the keys from his coat. But the door clunked open as Soonyoung rushed out. 

“Soonyoung, you’re leaving?”

“Yeah,” the usually hyper boy replied with strange, quieted restraint, “How was your date? Good?’

“Yeah, it was,” Jihoon replied, blushing, “What--”

“Great, bye.”

Baffled, Jihoon watched Soonyoung rush out of the building, none of the usual prodding or teasing. Hand on the door knob, he opened the door with hesitation. He had a bad feeling about this. 

Seokmin was sitting on the couch. “Hyung,” he smiled lightly as he turned towards Jihoon, “how was it? Did you have a good date?”

“I did, I guess,” Jihoon nodded shyly, taking off his coat and hanging it on the coat rack. They sat quietly for a second on the couch before Jihoon finally opened his mouth again. “I saw Soonyoung leaving. Did…” He stopped speaking, unsure of what to say to Seokmin. 

“I told him,” Seokmin admitted, licking his lips nervously, “I told him I’m tired of playing games with him. That I’m not going to like him or hang around with him anymore because I refuse to be treated like dirt.”

Jihoon grasped his younger brother’s hand, noting how shaky it still was. “Good for you, Seokmin.” 

“I… I’m sorry, I know he’s your best friend, but-”

“You’re my baby brother,” Jihoon said reassuringly, “I don’t want you to keep hurting.” He opened himself to Seokmin’s embrace and patted his younger brother’s back quietly. Seokmin sniffled a few times, and Jihoon could tell that the soft-hearted boy was holding back tears. 

“This is the right thing to do, right?”

“You did what felt right to you,” replied Jihoon, still rubbing Seokmin’s back.

“Then why does my heart hurt even more now?” Seokmin started whimpering, and Jihoon could feel the warm tears fall and soak his shoulder.

“Oh, no, Seokmin…”

Jihoon hated feeling so helpless as he watched his brother’s heart breaking yet again, unable to protect Seokmin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda back? COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc, but I will try to pitch in more time into this fic! Updates still won't be very regular, but thank you for reading and leaving such sweet comments.


	11. My Funny Valentine

“Holy cow!” 

Seokmin nearly jumped. He was shocked to flip the light switch on to see Soonyoung sitting on his bed in the dark. 

“You’re late,” the fluffy boy with bleach blond hair said, rubbing his eyes at the sudden light. 

Doing another double take, Seokmin hung up his coat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I had an appointment with you today. What are you doing in my room in the dark?”

“It’s Valentine’s Day.” Soonyoung replied, shifting over as Seokmin sat next to him. He gave Seokmin a blank look, impossible to read. 

Just a few months ago, the thought of Soonyoung sitting and waiting for him in his room on Valentine’s Day would have driven him to the moon and back. But today, he just felt tired and confused. He had long wrestled with the idea that Soonyoung may never love him back the way he loved Soonyoung, but it was getting more and more unbearable. Especially since Chan and Wonwoo started dating publicly, Seokmin was visually reminded all the time that this is the type of loving, supportive, and devoted relationship he wanted to be in. Not whatever they had going on right now.

“Your date back out on you?”

“I didn’t have a date.”

“Oh.” 

Seokmin didn’t know what to say. He had expected Soonyoung to be boasting about going out with some guy or girl he didn’t even like, joking about getting a free meal out of some sucker. It suited Soonyoung, to treat love and other people’s hearts like a game to play. 

Soonyoung turned to look at him. “Why did you think I had a date?”

“No reason,” Seokmin shrugged, holding back from verbally unleashing years of Soonyoung’s serial dating history. He tried to ignore the curious beady eyes. They had just made up enough to speak to each other again. He didn’t want to mess it up. 

Seokmin felt Soonyoung grab his hand. He looked at the older boy, who seemed to be quieter than usual. Strange. Usually, Soonyoung was quite the chatterbox. And actually, Seokmin matched him. The two of them fed off of each other’s excitement, in a strange loop of positive feedback that ended mostly in explosive laughter. But these past few weeks have been stranger. Since Seokmin lost his temper at Soonyoung, it was like the two of them were continuously walking on thin ice. They still joked around and laughed together, but something felt just a little bit off. 

“Where were you tonight?” Soonyoung finally asked, putting on a smile Seokmin knew was absolutely fake. 

“I was with Jeonghan-hyung,” Seokmin replied, brushing Soonyoung’s hand off because it still stung him every time they touched, “He cooked dinner for me.” 

He sensed Soonyoung stiffening at these words, but didn’t know why. Strange, he thought, as he observed Soonyoung’s otherwise expressionless face. 

“That must have been nice,” Soonyoung sighed, “Someone cooking for you, for once, instead of you cooking for them.”

“It was,” Seokmin agreed. 

To be fair, Jeonghan didn’t cook anything fancy. It was just some sweet and sour chicken and stir fry from Costco that he popped into the oven for the instructed amount. But it was nice being taken care of once in a while, even though he enjoyed taking care of his brothers and cooking for them at home. Feeling slightly pleased by the thought, he nudged Soonyoung playfully, raising his eyebrows until the older boy smiled genuinely. 

“What?”

“Aigoo, grandma, I want to have a meal cooked by you!” Seokmin scrunched his face up together to do his best elderly voice impression. Soonyoung giggled before launching into his grandmotherly voice.

“Aigoo, grandpa, wait patiently, I will have it ready.”

“Really? How long will it take, grandma?”

“Maybe about two years?”

They broke out into a hysterical laughing fit again. Soonyoung pressed his cheek against Seokmin’s arm, snuggling up to him like a little kitten. It made Seokmin’s heart do a somersault, despite the rational mind telling himself no, he can’t have everything with Soonyoung the way that he wants to. He felt Soonyoung start to rub his nose closer to Seokmin’s chest. So he pulled away a bit until the older boy stopped and sat up again. 

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know.”

Seokmin felt his heart aching again at Soonyoung’s sudden apology. It was as if Soonyoung could hear his thoughts, the internal fears that have been plaguing Seokmin. Being rejected, crushed. Never having the same kind of close relationship that he’d been sharing with Soonyoung for years. 

After what seemed like hours of silence, Soonyoung opened his mouth again. "Jeonghan sounds like a really nice person."

"He is," Seokmin agreed, "kind of. A little quirky. He jokes around a lot, but he's a great listener." In fact, Seokmin was weirded out by the way Jeonghan invited him over to stay for dinner and finding out he had inadvertently crashed Jeonghan and Joshua's Valentine's plans. But Joshua was super nonchalant about it, as if he expected something like this to happen. What a strange couple, Seokmin thought. But at the same time, they really made sense for each other. 

Seokmin looked over at the silent Soonyoung, who was sporting yet another cryptic look. Feeling uncomfortable with the silence, he continued. "Hey, Jihoon-hyung isn't back yet from his date. Isn't that funny? The Lee brothers all spending Valentine's dinner outside instead of watching a Marvel movie."

"Funny? I guess."

Soonyoung's half-hearted answer almost made Seokmin jump. Confused, Seokmin knelt and sat in front of Soonyoung, trying to see if something was wrong with the older boy. Maybe Soonyoung was sick. What else would explain this sudden lack of interest in a prime opportunity to tease Jihoon for days? 

Close up, Soonyoung had this look of misery, a sad expression that reminded Seokmin of that night he picked up drunk Soonyoun from the bar. It hurt Seokmin to see the usually bubbly Soonyoung be so sad.

"What happened?"

"... Nothing."

"Soonyoungie-hyung, what happened? Tell me."

But the older boy did not budge. Frustrated, Seokmin stood up and sat in his chair, his hand flying to his mouth. He chewed his lips and nails when he was nervous. It was a bad, old habit that Seokmin assumed he got rid of. Apparently not. 

That was the way that his relationship with Soonyoung felt like. A bad habit. He had been trying so hard this year to stop this silly dance, he and Soonyoung constantly stepping towards and away from each other like a crazy waltz. Seokmin felt it. They were at the end of the road. 

He remembered the first day they had met. Jihoon brought Soonyoung home from school-- quite reluctantly, to a point it was probably more appropriate to say that Soontoung had injected himself into the Lee household. Seokmin was still in middle school. Back then, even though they were only a year apart, Jihoon and Soonyoung seemed so much older. But unlike Jihoon, who played the part of the oldest brother down to the T, Soonyoung welcomed Seokmin in like a friend. It was easy even for the usually shy and timid Seokmin to grow close to Soonyoung. He still remembered how Soonyoung cheered him on earnestly as Seokmin beat him in a Yu-Gi-Oh card game.

It was a little bit fuzzy when Seokmin began actually liking Soonyoung as more than a friend. Beginning of this crush was the beginning of a heartbreak; Soonyoung was never interested in settling down for one person. Seokmin thought if he kept his feelings under wraps, if he kept everything a secret, it would be okay. But his crush, like an allergic reaction, grew stronger and stronger in every encounter with Soonyoung. Even after Soonyoung had taken advantage of Seokmin’s heart-- seducing him and using him-- this fever did not end. 

Soonyoung got up and walked towards Seokmin. With his plump little hand, he gently removed Seokmin's hand from his mouth. 

"Seokmin."

They shared a look. Seokmin shut his eyes, knowing what was coming and hating it. 

"Sleep with me tonight."

Hating the way that they fell into this pit, unable to claw their way out of this mess. Hating the way that they fell into the same old pattern, the same mistakes. Hating the way this felt so familiar and comfortable. 

"No."

He was almost startled by his own words, the angry and firm tone that they took on as they left his mouth. And from the way Soonyoung’s eyes widened and froze, he could tell the older boy was shocked at his defiance, too. Of course. Seokmin would often yield to Soonyoung’s sweet lullabies. At the very best, he would appease Soonyoung softly before turning his advances down. Never had he been so strong in his refusal. 

“No,” he repeated, feeling more confident. “I won’t sleep with you, hyung. Not now, not ever again. I’m so tired.”

“Tired? Of what?” Soonyoung asked, his voice sharp with that steel-like pride that scared Seokmin for so long. But Seokmin knew that this time, he could not back down. Each encounter he had with Soonyoung raised his hopes for their future, but every time, he ended up being crushed by a sense of hopelessness. Each touch was like a small trauma to Seokmin, reminding him of what could not be for the two of them. 

“Of this, of you playing games with me. Every time we get together and you leave me behind in the dust while you fool around with other people, it hurts.”

“I never--”

“No, listen, hyung. I get it. You don’t know what it’s like. You don’t know how it feels like when someone you like doesn’t love you back. But I’m tired of being there all the time for you, only there to pick up the pieces and watch you go off to play with other guys and girls. So I’m going to choose not to be hurt anymore. I’m not going to keep hanging out with you and pretend everything is fine when I’m not.”

Huffing, Seokmin felt his heart racing as he spat out those words. Though he decided that he would be honest and brave tonight, he couldn't help but think about Soonyoung’s reaction to these words. Would Soonyoung be angry at the thought that he could no longer take advantage of Seokmin’s company? Sad? This thought made Seokmin turn and look away from Soonyoung. He knew that if he saw Soonyoung crestfallen, he would lose the courage to tell the older boy how much he had been hurting. Even the silence in between them felt like a dam, ready to break and drown them at any moment. 

“I’m sorry,” Soonyoung finally said, his voice audibly trembling, “If you… don’t want to see me again, I guess I will leave.”

The click of the door and Soonyoung’s quick footsteps were so loud, echoing against Seokmin’s ears. Feeling all energy drained out, he walked out to the living room to make sure that Soonyoung was truly gone. Seokmin collapsed onto the couch, almost in disbelief of what he had done. He finally did it. After years of silently orbiting around Soonyoung’s magnetic energy, Seokmin finally broke himself out of that hold. It was the right thing to do. Seokmin knew this was true. 

But he could not get rid of the awful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He heard another click of the door and saw his older brother walk in. Seokmin tried to smile. 

“Hyung, how was it? Did you have a good date?”


End file.
